Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/690

672 hundred years ago, when a Marhattd official took up his abDde there, and began to build a fort which was never completed. In 18G2 it was made the headquarters of the district, and is now a rising town. It lies in 22 2 N. lat. and 82 5 E. long. The population was estimated in 1870 at 6190, but Bilaspur is not mentioned in the census of 1872 as containing upwards of 5000 inhabitants.  BILBAO, one of the principal cities of Spain, and capital of the province to which it gives its name, is situated in 43 14 N&quot;. lat. and 2 56 W. long., in a small but beautiful and fertile valley, bounded on three sides by mountains, about six miles from the sea, on the banks of the River Ansa, which is also known as the Nervion, or, in Basque, as the Ibaizabal. The old town lies on the left bank, while the new town, which is by far the more important, rises on the right in handsome terraces. Communication across the river is afforded by several bridges, of which the oldest, San Antonio, is of stone, and dates from the 1 4th century ; the second was finished in 1827, the third in 1847, and the fourth, an iron structure, in 1868. The houses in the principal streets are built of hewn stone, and are several stories high, with projecting eaves that give shelter both from sun and rain. Many of the streets are very narrow, and they have an appearance of cleanliness and quiet. For a long time no carts or carriages were permitted to enter the city for fear of polluting and injuring the pavement, and the transport of goods was carried on in trucks. The principal promenades are the Paseo del Arenal, which lies along the right bank of the river, the Campo Volautin in the same neighbourhood, and the Paseo de los Caiios, so called from its forming the roof of the great aqueduct for conveying the water of the river to the town. The public buildings comprise several churches, of which the oldest, Santiago, is of earlier date than the city itself, the town- hall, the palace of the Diputacion Provincial, an arsenal, a hospital, a theatre, and an abattoir. Of the educational institutions the most important are the Colegio General de Vizcaya, a nautical academy, and the schools supported by the board of trade for gratuitous instruction in design, architecture, languages, and mathematics. A bank of issue and discount was founded in 1857. The industrial estab lishments include iron and steel foundries (for which the town was at one time famous), anchor-forges, potteries, glass-works, paper-mills, and a cotton factory ; and leather, sail-cloth, ropes, and tobacco are also manufactured. The exports consist mainly of grain and flour, iron, zinc, and lead ore, wine, madder, liquorice, lamb and goat skins, chestnuts, and oil. The wool trade has ceased for many years, and shipbuilding has greatly declined. A great stimulus was given to the import trade by the construction of the Bilbao and Tudela railway, which was completed in 1863; but the prosperity of the place is hindered by its distance from the sea. Large sums of money have been spent in improving the river, but ships of any size have to discharge at Portugalete, the average depth on the bar being 13i feet at high tides. In spite of this disadvantage, however, Bilbao ranks as one of the principal trading ports in Spain. In 1870 the total tonnage of the ships that entered was 160,952, and the value of the imports amounted to 2,075,900. There is regular steam communication with London and Liverpool. Population, 17,649. Bilbao, or Belvao, was founded about 1300 by Don Pedro Lopez de Haro, and soon rose into importance. It was captured by the French in 1795, and was again held by them from 1803 to 1813. During the Carlist contest it was gallantly defended against Zumalacarregui in 1835.  BILDERDIJK,, a modern Dutch poet, by some considered to be the most eminent that his country has produced, was born at Amsterdam in 1756. In 1776, after completing a wide course of study at Leyden Univer sity, he gained the prize from the Leyden Society of Art for his poem on the Influence of Poetry on States and Governments. In the following year he gained another prize for his poem Love of Fatherland, and in 1779 he translated the CEdipus Tyrannus of Sophocles. In 1786 he left Holland on account of the disturbed state of public affairs, and after residing some time in Germany crossed to England, where he remained till 1806. Returning then to his native country he was received with great favour by the new king Louis Napoleon, who made him president of the recently founded Institute of Holland. He died on the 18th December 1831. His finest poetical works are the Buitenleven, or Rural Life, a free imitation of Delille ; De Mensch, similarly taken from Pope; Die Zickte der Geleerden, the Maladies of the Learned ; Die Ondcryang der eerste Wereld, the Destruction of the First World. Some of his dramatic and epic poems are also highly esteemed. His second wife, besides some original work, translated the Roderick of Southey, who was very intimate with Bilderdijk, and resided for some time with him.  BILE. See.  BILFINGER,, was born on the 23d January 1693, at Cannstadt in Wiirtemberg. His father was a Lutheran minister. By a singularity of constitution, hereditary in his family, Bilfinger came into the world with twelve fingers and as many toes. From his earliest years he showed the greatest inclination to learning. He studied in the schools of Blaubeuern and Bobenhausen, and afterwards entered the theological seminary of Tubingen. The works of Wolff, which he studied in order to learn mathematics, soon inspired him with a taste for the Wolffian philosophy and that of Leibnitz, a passion which made him neglect for some time his other studies. Returning to theology, he wished at least to try to connect it with his favourite science of philosophy ; and in this spirit he composed the treatise entitled Ddvcida- tiones Philosophical, De Deo, Anima Humana, Mundo, &,c. This work, containing nothing original, but giving an admirably clear representation of Wolff s philosophy, met with great success, and contributed to the advancement of the author, who was appointed soon after to the office of preacher at the castle of Tubingen, and of reader in the school of theology. He soon after left for Halle, in order to attend the lectures of Wolff; and, after two years of study, returned to Tubingen, where the Wolilian philosophy was not yet in favour. He found his protectors there cooled, saw his lectures deserted, and perceived himself shunned, from the dislike of his new doctrines ; his ecclesiastical views also suffered from the same cause. By the intervention of Wolff he received an invitation to Petersburg, where Peter I. wished to appoint him professor of logic and metaphysics, and member of his new academy. He was received in that city, where he arrived in 1725, with the consideration due to his abilities. The Academy of Sciences of Paris having proposed about this time the famous problem on the cause of gravity, Bilfinger gained the prize, which was a thousand crowns. His reputation was so much increased by this success that he was almost immediately recalled to his native country by the Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Wiirtemberg. He quitted St Petersburg in 1731, and in 1735 the Duke Charles Alexander appointed him privy councillor. After careful preparation Bilfinger entered on the duties of his new office, and soon approved himself one of the best and most enlightened ministers that his country had yet produced. Under his wise administration the commerce, public instruction, and agriculture of AViirtemberg flourished, and the state was raised to a position it had not before attained. Bilfinger died at Stuttgart on the 18th February 1750.